Using computing systems to search resources such as databases and websites is a common occurrence. For example, commercial organisations such as Google provide an interface that can be accessed via the Internet that allows users to input one or more words or phrases to search for matching websites. Google operates a very large processing function running algorithms to process the requests that are input via their web interfaces.
With the advent of technologies such as UDDI, (Universal Description, Discovery and Integration, see www.uddi.org) it is also possible to search for business services. UDDI is a protocol which creates a standard interoperable platform that enables companies and applications to quickly, easily, and dynamically find and use Web services over the Internet. UDDI is a cross-industry effort driven by major platform and software providers, as well as marketplace operators and e-business leaders. It allows users to search for specific functions (web services) and provides information about the technical structure of the services offered. UDDI essentially provides users with a “yellow pages” of web services that are available. For example, if a user wishes to find a web service that provides the ability to search for images, then the user can query a UDDI node for such web services, and receive back a list of providers of this specific type of search function, with respective descriptions about such detail as cost, structure of inputs and outputs and so on.
However, all known services such as UDDI do not provide to the user a set of results that is in anyway formatted to provide information on which service(s) is/are the most suitable for the user's specific application.
Thus it would be desirable to alleviate the above problems.